SOMERSET’S young left arm paceman JT Langridge certainly made the most of his opportunity to join Gloucestershire on loan for the last rounds of the Championship.

In the four matches he played JT claimed 22 wickets at an average of 22.13 including two five-fers and best of 5 for 51.

The 20 year old, who came up through the Somerset Academy, said: “I’m really very happy with the way that things went for me during my time on loan at Gloucestershire and it’s good to have been able to take the opportunity.

“When I heard about it I was very excited to go there to play first class cricket and learn whatever I could from what I did. The fact that it has gone really well is brilliant and gives me lots of confidence going forward and I’m really grateful for the opportunity.”

JT added: “I’m planning to stay in Taunton again this winter and do lots of physical stuff, and work with Steve Kirby a lot more. I made a substantial amount of progress last winter and if I can do the same again I can reach new heights and really start competing for a first team spot at Somerset and opportunities beyond that I hope.”

Steve Kirby, the Somerset bowling coach, explained how it all came about and the benefits the loan system offered JT. “It all happened pretty quickly, but it has been an incredible opportunity for him and we are extremely grateful to Gloucestershire for allowing him to join them on loan and play in the Championship for them.

“This was a brilliant opportunity for him to go out and take that next step which is what we have been wanting him to do. He has worked so hard over the winter on his fitness, and on his training. His capacity is going up in the number of overs he can bowl in a day, and we wanted to improve the quality of what he was delivering.

“He has done well in second team cricket, but for him to have the opportunity to go and play first class cricket was brilliant for him, brilliant for us and brilliant for Gloucestershire, so it was a win win situation.”

What are the plans for JT this winter? “This will be another big winter for him physically for us to work on the areas that he needs to and there are some technical areas we need to improve upon which he is aware of too. We have started the process through last winter but with his rib injury last year he was limited to the amount of bowling he could do in the winter.

“Once we have made the improvements which we can only do when they are not playing you’ll see an increased improvement in accuracy, consistency and the heaviness of the ball he is bowling.”

Kirb’s added: “I’m really pleased for him and so proud of the way that he has gone about his business.”